Do YOU Want to See Jesus?
a sermon based on John
12:20-33
By Rev. Rick Thompson
Word had been getting around about
Jesus.
He’d been doing some pretty
amazing things! He’s healed a blind man, and that was pretty
incredible.
But the latest one was even better
than that!
Jesus had raised his friend
Lazarus from the dead!
Lazarus had been raised from the dead,
and everybody was talking about it!
In fact, Jesus had caused such a
stir that the religious leaders got really nervous. The Jewish
high council gathered. After much debate, the high priest issued his
judgment: Jesus would have to die. He was causing too much of a
stir, risking undue attention from the Romans, and Jesus would have to
go. They’d have to find a way to hand Jesus over for death.
And, before much longer, they
came to the same conclusion about Lazarus. Because he had dared to be
raised from the dead—as if he had any say in the matter!—and because his
walking around among the living brought attention to Jesus, Lazarus
would have to die, too.
There was life bursting out, but the
smell of death was in the air. Tension was ratcheting up. Things were
at the breaking point, and something would have to give. Somebody
would have to die!
Then Jesus made his next move.
Riding on a borrowed donkey, he paraded into Jerusalem,
praised by the great crowd of common people Jesus was gathering. But
the leaders were furious, and it was clear things would soon come to a
head.
Then some Greeks—Greeks perhaps
sympathetic to the Jewish way of life—were attracted to Jesus. They
wanted to know more. They were captivated by this man who had raised
the dead and now had stirred up the religious leaders. They wanted to
know more about Jesus—in fact, they wanted to see Jesus. They
approached one of his disciples, Philip who had a Greek-sounding name:
“Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Philip approached another disciple,
Andrew, and, together, they agreed to bring the Greeks to see Jesus.
And when they came to Jesus, he
said to them, “My time has come. I’m about to claim my glory!”
Now, wouldn’t you and I like to
see that, too? Wouldn’t we like to see Jesus, glorified, coming
in power? Wouldn’t we like to see Jesus crush his
enemies—especially if they were our enemies too! Wouldn’t we
like to see Jesus retaliate against those who had resisted him?
Wouldn’t we love it if Jesus stomped out all his opponents, and
made it all nice and peaceful and comfortable—just for us?
Would you like to see Jesus?
I would. I’d like to see Jesus as
clearly as I can see you. I’d like to see Jesus make himself clear,
obliterate his enemies—because that’s what we think of as glory, isn’t
it: success, victory, fame, and all that goes with it, the wealth and
the power and the admiration.
Do you want to see that
Jesus?
Well, I’m sorry to disappoint you,
but Jesus doesn’t seem the least bit interested in being that
kind of Jesus.
“Unless a grain of wheat falls
into the ground and dies, it remains just a single grain,” Jesus says—a
single grain, not good for much of anything.
And a bit later, “…when I am
lifted up, I will draw all people to myself.” And, John has to remind
us, “He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die.”
Jesus was about to die. And it
would not be a beautiful death. It would be ugly, horrible, tragic and
undeserved.
He was going to die on a cross—and
that would be his hour of glory!
If we were looking for Jesus, is that
where we’d look? On a cross? In the darkest places in the world? In a
place of horrible death? Right where it seems God is most absent?
Is that where WE’D look for Jesus?
I doubt it. We’re like those Greeks.
We’d like to see Jesus clobber his enemies—and, even better, share the
spoils of his victory with us.
And, actually, that’s precisely
what Jesus does—but the enemy is not the one we’d identify.
We think Jesus should go after our human enemies, make everything
sweetness and light for us, but Jesus has another idea. For Jesus,
that’s small potatoes! The enemy he’s got in his sights is
Satan. The enemy Jesus has his eye on is sin! The enemy he’s
got in his sights is Death. “Now is the judgment of this world; now
the ruler of this world will be driven out!” he declares to the Greeks.
Jesus is going to his cross,
and there’s he’s going to defeat Satan and destroy death and deliver
from sin and draw ALL PEOPLE—some Greek versions actually have ALL
THINGS—to himself!
His death will be his victory!
Now, I don’t know how that sounded
to those Greeks—but my hunch is, it sounded a lot like it sounds to me.
It sounds like a ridiculous idea—destroy death and evil by
dying?? It sounds like Jesus is headed for total, utter failure!
A seed dies, lies dormant in the
soil—and an abundant crop grows, after all.
So why can’t abundant life come
out of death—even death on a cross?
And why can’t letting go result in
receiving far more than what is lost?
That’s what Jesus is preparing us
for. That’s what Jesus is teaching us today—that God’s ways are far,
far different from ours—and that God’s ways actually produce what
God intends—abundant life!
It’s a mystery. Just like the
death of a seed, buried in the ground, produces a crop, it’s a mystery.
Death results in life. To let go
is to receive. And a repugnant, hideous death by crucifixion attracts
and saves all things, all people.
How can this be?
Only in the strange but true
wisdom of God. Only to those who cling to Christ in faith. Only to
those who, in faith, let go of our own control, our own perceptions
about how life ought to work, and our own pathway to glory—only to these
is the mystery of abundant life made available!
A talented woman was on the fast
track to a successful, lucrative career as a graphic artist. She
married a successful attorney and, in a couple years, they had a son.
Although they eagerly awaited
their son’s birth, he was born severely retarded, with numerous physical
problems. As a baby, he required full-time care. The parents agreed to
both cut back on their work and share the responsibility of caring for
the child.
It was a demanding, grueling, 24/7
task. Within a year, the husband left, leaving a note that said, “I
love you, but I just can’t take this. I’ve got to have a life of my
own.”
The woman quit her job and cared
for her son full time. Because of her constant, loving, and devoted
care, the child lived far longer than doctors expected. But, at age 8,
the boy died.
When the church met for the
funeral, they sang victory songs, Easter songs, Speakers extolled the
woman as an example for all, as someone who embodied the teaching of
Christ.
She gave that child eight
wonderful years, though she “lost” eight years of her own life, as the
world measures gain and loss. But, when asked, she said, “If I had to
do it all over again—I would!” In Christ, she had a fullness of life
that could not be explained or contained![i]
That woman saw Jesus. In caring
for her son, in letting go and receiving, in entering into the place of
darkness and death, she saw Jesus.
Had she really lost
everything?
No—she had gained abundant
life!
And just as that woman gave up her
life for her child, so God has done. God has made a sacrifice—the
ultimate sacrifice.
God has given up God’s own Son—for
us, for you, for me, for all people and all things—TO
GIVE LIFE, ABUNDANT LIFE!
And that’s where we’ll see Jesus in all
his glory.
On a cross, dying to give life to
all.
That’s where we’ll see Jesus—when
we follow him, and let go of our own life, and embrace Christ and his
life.
That’s when we’ll see
Jesus!
AMEN.
